Make no mistake: Rain Pryor, the star of the autobiographical solo show “Fried Chicken and Latkes,” is not just defined by her father, the comedian Richard Pryor. She most definitely is her own woman. But she sure does one hell of an impersonation of her dad.
There are many dimensions to this robust, ebullient performer, all evident in this trim production, which sails by in an effervescent 70 minutes. The daughter of Pryor (“a comic genius”) and a Jewish onetime go-go dancer, Ms. Pryor was raised in Beverly Hills, Calif., in a biracial household. Her show is a parade of friends, relatives and tormentors, in which she also sings — with impressive power — accompanied by a skilled jazz trio led by Charles Lindberg.
Her portraits include those of a slur-hurling elementary school antagonist; her hardheaded mother (“Joan Crawford in the ’hood”); her maternal grandmother and sagacious paternal great-grandmother; a tough black female classmate; a vapid 1980s Valley girl; and Miles Davis (who once serenaded her to sleep).
And she delivers a spot-on impression of her father, both at his height (she summons bits of his routine about shooting at his wife’s car) and, poignantly, in his decline…
Read more: NY Times
